Coiled resilient ball and paddle

ABSTRACT

A sporting game comprising a ball which can be hit between the players who are positioned in a fixed court and may not move their feet while playing and who are in addition separated by a net between them. The ball comprises two coiled strips of a light-weight material, each of said strips defining a plurality of coils and each of said coils of a first one of said strips being perpendicular to the planes defined by the coils of a second one of said strips. The ball is propelled over the net by means of discs having the shape of truncated cones and having a diameter approximately equal to 8% of the height of the player. The net is positioned at a height proportional to that of the taller player, while the area of each player&#39;&#39;s court is proportioned to his height. The length of the court, parallel to the net, is equal to the height reached by each player with his right thumb when his right arm is stretched upwards, while the width at right angles to the net is half this length. The net is positioned at a height such that the top of it is at the eye level of the taller player.

United States Patent 1 Burgos COILED RESILIENT BALL AND PADDLE [76] Inventor: D. Jose Soto Burgos, Eduardo Dato-2l, 10 Madrid, Spain 1 Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to June 18, 1991, has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Aug. 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 386,443

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 284,618, Aug. 29,

1972, Pat. No. 3,817,520.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 31, 1971 Spain 394675 [52] US. Cl 273/95 R; 273/58 D; 273/67 R [51] Int. Cl? A63B 71/02 [58] Field of Search.... 273/95 R, 58 D, 67 R, 67 B; 35/72, 34

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 454,700 6/1891 Barker 273/67 B 1,098,070 5/1914 Whitney..... 273/67 R 1,527,051 2/1925 Longan 35/72 1,700,251 1/1929 Contolini 273/67 B 3,046,016 7/1962 Laws 273/58 D 3,674,270 7/1972 Benjamin 273/67 R 3,817,520 6/1974 Burgos 273/67 R Primary ExaminerRichard J. Apley Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney, Agent, or FirmFleit & Jacobson [57] I ABSTRACT A sporting game comprising a ball which can be hit between the players who are' positioned in a fixed court and may not move their feet while playing and who are in addition separated by a net between them. The ball comprises two coiled strips of a light-weight material, each of said strips defining a plurality of coils and each of said coils of a first one of said strips being perpendicular to the planes defined by the coils of a second one of said strips. The ball is propelled over the net by means of discs having'the shape of truncated cones and having a diameter approximately equal to 8% of the height of the player. The net is positioned at aheight proportional to that of the taller player, while the area of each players court is proportioned to his height. The length of the court, parallel to the net, is equal to the height reached by each player with his right thumb when his right arm is stretched upwards, while the width at right angles to the net is half this length. The net is positioned at a height such that the top of it is at the eye level of the taller player.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures COILED RESILIENT BALL AND PADDLE' CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLlCATION Y BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION The present invention concerns .a; sporting game played with a ball thatis hit betweentwo .playe rs,whol

move about a fixed court and are, in addition, separated by a net' between them. ln.sports of this type, as well as in other sporting ,games,=the.;players invariably use a greater effort with either the right or left side of I the body, resulting in the fact that one side develops more fully than the other,.- to the detriment of a balanced physical development-Thus, in any sport, like tennis,.golf, basketball or table tennis, people who predominantly use their' right limb exercise and develop this limb more extensively thantheir opposite. The same things happens with peopletwho predominantly use their left limb. The evengreater disadvantage today is the conflict between .ones desire to retain physical fitness, and the lack of spare time to develop that goal.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a sporting game which-can beplayed in an extremely" small space,.a room or any like area being suitable; a game requiring little movement, and which, in addition, is inexpensive. 1 t n A second characteristic of this newly invented sporting-game is thatitfcan be played by a single player, or by two players, one against the o'ther..A further characteristic'of the game is that it forces the player or players to exert-a great physical'effort, greater on the weaker side of the body, since it is the side which his opponent will undoubtedly exploit more fully, thus achieving a balanced physical development.

The game provides complete exercise, for the hands, arms, feet, legs and body, since the movements which must be used to return the ball provides stimulus to all regions, thus offering scientific advantages over other sporting games played at present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, the ball with which the sporting game is played comprises two coiled strips of a light-weight, shape-retaining material, each of said strips defining a plurality of substantially circular coils and each of said coils defining an imaginary plane, the planes defined by the coils of a first one of said strips being perpendicular to the planes defined by the coils of a second one of said strips, at least one of the coils of said first strip being positioned between adjacent ones of said coils in said second strip, at least one of the coils of said second strip being positioned between adjacent ones of said coils in said first strip, said first and second strips being secured together at right angles to each other at a predetermined area.

In this way, a ball is obtained which requires a great effort to hit a maximum distance of about 3 meters.

The propulsion of the ball is achieved by using discs, two for each player, the discs have the shape of truncated cones and have a maximum diameter approximately equal to 8% of the height of the player. Each disc is held with one hand except when serving which causes the player to exert a constant physical effort be approximately 5% of said diameter.

A-n'et, is arranged between the players,-the top of which is set at the eye levelof the taller player, to'prevenfhim' fromhavingan advantage over the shorter player.

The courts are proportional to the height of each player, their length, parallel to the net, being equal to the heightreachedby each player with his right thumb when his right" arm is stretched upwards, while the width at right angles to the net'is half this length.'In this way neither player has an advantage over the other, and at the same time, the dimensions of the Courtensure that the effort required by either contestant is equivalent -to the ratio between the area of thecourt and the height of that player. Each court maybe about 12 inches from the net. In" addition, to ensure effort from the whole'body, once'the game is started, neither player is permitted to move his feet from the point at which he began. In this way, the legsand feet are forced to work.

This sportinggamecanbe played in the following way: after deciding which of the two players is to play the ball first, that player takes the two discs in 'his left hand, one on top of the other, with their smaller faces touching, and throws the ball into the air with his right i:

hand. The other player, who holds one disc in each hand from the start, returns the ball to the opposite side by hitting it with Whichever disc is more convenient.

Play continues in this way until one of the players fails to return the ball to his opponents court, in

which case the latter will have won a point.

Play continues thus, until a' predetermined score is reached, service then passing to the other player.

For a person to play this game alone, the net is set up as if two players were playing with a normal but light ball being suspended by means of a thread from one of the vertical posts supporting the net. The player positions himself in the same vertical plane as the net. but about 12 inches outside the court, with his head facing the net.

With his right hand he throws the ball hard, so that it goes over the net and then, when it comes near him, he hits it with the discs he is holding in his left hand so that the ball recrosses the net. He then takes one of the discs in right hand, and with it hits the ball when it approaches him on the right. After this he hits it with the disc in his left hand, when the ball reaches him on his left, and he continues to play in this way until the ball hits the net and he cannot go on playing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A description of this newly invented sporting game is given below, with attachment drawing, to ease compre- I hension.

FIG. 1 is a view, in perspective, of the net and playing courts;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the two discs, one on the top of the other;

FIG. 3 is a plan of the strips from which the ball is obtained;

FIG. 4 is a head-on view of the ball; and

FIG. 5 is a section along the line \/-V in FIG. 4.

As can be seen from the drawings, the net 1 is erected in the playing, court on two vertical posts 2. About 12 inches away the courts 3 and 4 are marked out; this can be done with tape. Each of the courts is equal in lenght to the height reached by the player with the thumb of his right hand, with his arm stretched upwards, while the width is half this length. The net 1 is placed so that the top is approximately at the eye level of the taller player. The players may position themselves in the courts, thusly marked, wherever they like, but with the condition that their feet may not move once the game has begun.

The ball is made up from the two strips 5, FIG. 3, arranged at right angles to each other, which can comprise only one piece. The two strips 5 are wound alternately around themselves toward the point 6, so that the turns, or winds, are slightly separated from each other, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. For example, from each strip 5 two turns 7 can be obtained, all of which are travelling and joined together at the point 6, for example by stitching 8, while around the rest of the ring they remain apart, the maximum separations being obtained at a point diametrically opposite the joint.

The strips 5 are made of a lightweight material, such as bobbinet. A ball is thus obtained which requires a great effort to hit a maximum of three meters. The ball is hit by discs 9 as shown in FIG. 2.

These discs 9 have a maximum diameter approximately equal to 8% of the height of each player or, in other words, a maximum diameter approximately equal to 3 to 6 inches. The discs have the shape of truncated cones and have flat top and bottom surfaces. The thickness of the discs can be approximately 5% of said diameter.

The total area required in which to play the game is the open air, provided there is no wind, etc.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination of a ball and paddle for use in a sporting game in which said ball is propelled over a net by being struck with said paddle, said ball comprising two coiled strips of a lightweight shape-retaining material, each of said strips defining a plurality of substantially circular coils and each of said coils defining an imaginary plane, the planes defined by the coils of a first one of said strips being perpendicular to the planes defined by the coils of a second one of said strips, at least one of the coils of said first strip being positioned between adjacent ones of said coils in said second strip at least one of the coils of said second strip being positioned between adjacent ones of said coils in said first strip, said first and second strips being secured together at right angles to each other at a predetermined area, said paddle comprising a disc of suitable size to be held in the hand.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said disc has the shape of a truncated cone.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said disc has flat top and bottom surfaces.

4. The combination of claim 1 and further comprising a second paddle in the shape of a disc of suitable size to be held in the hand. 

1. The combination of a ball and paddle for use in a sporting game in which said ball is propelled over a net by being struck with said paddle, said ball comprising two coiled strips of a lightweight shape-retaining material, each of said strips defining a plurality of substantially circular coils and each of said coils defining an imaginary plane, the planes defined by the coils of a first one of said strips being perpendicular to the planes defined by the coils of a second one of said strips, at least one of the coils of said first strip being positioned between adjacent ones of said coils in said second strip at least one of the coils of said second strip being positioned between adjacent ones of said coils in said first strip, said first and second strips being secured together at right angles to each other at a predetermined area, said paddle comprising a disc of suitable size to be held in the hand.
 2. The combination of claim 1 in which said disc has the shape of a truncated cone.
 3. The combination of claim 1 in which said disc has flat top and bottom surfaces.
 4. The combination of claim 1 and further comprising a second paddle in the shape of a diSc of suitable size to be held in the hand. 